Academy firefighters advance at world competition

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. --  Several U.S. Air Force Academy firefighters ran seeding runs for the World Firefighter Combat Challenge XIX here Nov. 9.

Tyler Moran, the newest member of Team USAFA, climbed the tower and burned through the course in 1:34.09 -- nearly 15 seconds faster than his finish in the regional competition at the Academy in June.

At regional firefighter challenges, an individual run of less than 2:00 allows a participant to advance to the next level of competition, and the difference between first and second place is often fractions of a second. Mr. Moran ran 1:48.71 at the regional.

"Anytime you can run within two or three seconds of your personal record is a good day," Mr. Moran said. "That's only the third time I've run under a 1:40 time."

Other Academy firefighters also clocked good times in individual runs. Senior Airman Jessica Morehouse cut 8 seconds off her personal record. Han Barkley used a strong finish to come in at 1:44.65, 7 seconds ahead of his competitor. Dan McAuliffe ran a 1:51.94, and Bill Gates clocked in at 1:28.99.

Two of the firefighters on the Academy teams are from the Colorado Springs Fire Department. The CSFD has a tandem team competing at the world competition this week as well.

The two combined Academy-CSFD teams ran in the tandem and women's team runs. In the tandem category, Airman Morehouse and CSFD Lt. Stacey Billapando won the 2009 world title in the women's tandem category. The duo finished the course at 2:06.38 -- a full minute ahead of their competitors.

Relay teams competed last. The Fire Fembots, a combined Academy-CSFD women's relay team and the returning 2009 world champions for the women's relay, still holds the women's relay world record of 1:44.49. The Fembots returned this year with the same lineup and ran a time of 1:50.49, guaranteeing their appearance in the relay finals Nov. 13.